Jeweler&#39;s tool



0ct. 5, 1965 N. P. LowRY 3,209,625

JEWELERS TOOL Filed July l5, 1962 invento 1n Normanl? L 0 LUI/y ByhwUnited States Patent O This invention relates to a jewelers tool, andmore partlcularly, it relates to a devic-e for use by watch repairman inoiling and replacing the shock-proof balance jewel assembly after theparts have been cleaned and are ready to be replaced in the watchmovement.

In repairing or maintaining watches the repairman has, almost with everyrepair job, the troublesome operation of oiling and replacing the capjewel to the balance hole jewel of the shock-proof assembly. It will beappreciated that the jewels shown in the accompanying drawings are many,many times larger than their actual size and that in view ofthe verysmall size ofthe jewels most watch repairmen have trouble preventing thedropping, loss, or accidental displacement of the jewels when the job isin progress. Further, the oiling job involves a minute amount of oilwhich is to be accurately placed and again in view of the delicatenature of the jewels smearing them with oil frequently occursinadvertently, making it necessary to clean and re-oil the jewels again,All of this involves a loss of time `and expense. An efficient methodand device for rapid oiling and assembling has long been needed.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is the provision of a devicewhich provides for the exact placement of the jewels in properrelationship with each other and with a proper placement of the oiltherebetween so that the two jewels are in optimum sealing and oilingrelationship with each other. Another purpose is the provision of adevice which affords the handling of a multiplicity of jewels which areto be aligned and which may be, in their respective relationships, ofdifferent sizes as to other jewels being simultaneously handled. A stillfurther aim is the provision of an implement which permits the separateholding of the various bearing parts, the alignment of the said partsand the ready removal of the aligned parts as a unit. These and otherobjectives will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings, which are given for illustrative purposes only and arenot limitative, it is to be understood that the device of this inventionand the various parts illustrated are in an enlarged state with respectto the `actual device for use in handling jewels by watch repairmen, butthat devices smaller or larger than those shown in the gures may be usedin such manner as that described hereinafter for appropriately fittingparts. In these l'igures- FIGURE l is a plan view showing the device inopen form;

FIGURE 2 is an end view showing the device in a closed position with thedirection of closing being indicated by the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the closed device showing the capand the hole jewel in their respective positions in the device andshowing the tapping tool about ready to be inserted to bring the twojewels into contact; and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to that in FIGURE 3 but showing how thetapping tool has forced the cap jewel into sealing and oilingrelationship with the balance hole jewel beneath it.

As shown in FIGURE 1 the device of this invention comprises a handle 1connected to a hinge element 2 by a small rod 3, the hinge element 2containing a plurality of holes 4 in each of the hinged sections 5 and6. A

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given hole in one hinged element has a respective hole in the otherhinge element which becomes aligned with it when the two flaps arebrought together. For example, hole number 7 in hinge section 5 has holenumber 8 in hinge section 6 that lines up with hole number 7 when thehinge section 6 is raised in the direction shown in FIGURE 2, pivotingabout hinge 9 as it closes. This closure is shown in FIGURE 2, and theresultant aligned holes are shown in dotted form at 7 and 8 in FIGURE 2.

It will be not-ed from FIGURE 2 that the hole in section 5 is made bytwo drillings one larger than the other. The larger drilling is of asize corresponding to the outer diameter of the balance hole jewel 10shown in FIGURE 3 and is of a height corresponding to the thickness ofthe balance hole jewel. From the bottom surface of section 5 extendingupwardly to join the larger opening in a smaller drilling 11. Similarly,the larger aperture 12 in the hole S of section 6 is of a largerdiameter than the joining section 13. The larger section in thisinstance is of a diameter that corresponds to the other diameter of thecap jawel 14 shown in FIGURE 3. This diameter is generally less than thediameter of the balance jewel so that the aligned holes have theconfiguration shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4.

In operation, the device of this invention, in open position as shown inFIGURE 1 and being scrupulously clean, is merely placed on the worktable and the cap jewels' 14 that are to be matched with the balancehole jewels 10 are placed in the proper position in section 6 and theirchosen apertures. Similarly, the balance hole jewels 10 that are to bematched with the given cap jewels are placed in their respectivepositions and the apertures in section 5. In each instance a minuteamount of oil 16 is then placed in the proper position usually on thebalance hole jewel and being very close to the hole 15 of the balancehole jewel on the top surface of the balance hole jewel, and a minuteamount of oil is usually placed on the flat surface of the cap jewel.Section 6 is then rotated to close the device as shown in FIGURES 2 and3 and in this position the cap jewel 14 is held above and out of contactwith the balance hole jewel 10 below it. The oil stands ready to act bysurface tension when the two jewels are brought together to keep themtogether and also to act as an oiling agent for the pivot of the balancethat fits up in the aperture 15 in the balance jewel.

The watch repairman then takes the tamper 17, inserts it in hole 13 andpushes the cap jewel 14 downwardly to bring it to bear against thebalance hole jewel 10 beneath it. This action forces the oil 16 tospread out as shown in FIGURE 4. The watch repairman then removes thetamper 17, lifts the top hinge 6 off the bottom hinge section 5,reversing the closing direction. The cap jewel 14 is left behind,sitting on top of the hole jewel 10 since the oil 16 holds it to thebalance hole jewel. The watch repairman then merely turns the openeddevice over and inserts the tamper 17 in hole 11 and knocks out theassembled unit. It will be appreciated that the assembled unit comprisesthe cap jewel 14, the balance hole jewel 10 and the shock-proof housingelement 18 in which the balance hole jewel is tightly fit and held thereby friction.

The watch repairman, of course, allows the assembly to drop upon ascrupulously clean surface such as a fresh piece of white bond paper,and he is then able to pick up the assembly with the proper tool andplace it in the watch.

The devices of this invention may be made from any convenient materialsuch as metals like aluminum or nickel or from plastics such as nylon.Generally all of the holes in a given section of the hinge element willbe of the same size, and for simplicity of construction and for facilityin use, the holes in the two hinge elements are of the same size andthere are supplied adapters or bushings. The bushings are inserted inthe cap jewel section being of the desired size while bushings of theright inside diameter for balance hole jewels will be inserted in thatsection. These bushings are of common construction being in effect mererings and for convenience they are not shown. A further advantage in theuse of bushings is that the alignment of the holes in the sections isassured. The initial holes are made at the same drilling with the hingesections closed. New bushings can be installed very simply as a stock ofthe various sizes is kept on hand and the bushing is merely held inplace by a friction fit.

It is also to be appreciated that the device can be simplified byomission of the handle 1 and rod 3 letting the sides of the hingesections be the gripping means to open and close the device. Or ifpreferred the hinged plates or one of them could be tapered at thenon-working end to afford a handle. Further, other alignment means canbe supplied, as, for example, by leaving holes like 7 and 8 unfilledwith jewels while filling the other holes 4 therewith and then insertingtamper 17 into such unfilled aligned holes 7 and 8 to bring unhingedplates into alignment. While such equivalents may be used, it ispreferred to use the device shown in the drawing because of the veryrapid, precise alignment it affords and because of the convenienthandling provided by element Il and 3.

By the use of this device and the operations as described the watchrepairman can handle these very small elements with efficiency.inadvertent dropping, misplacing or losing of the jewels is minimized,and the considerable time loss that is involved in the prior practicesis avoided. The device of this invention affords the ready alignment ofthe jewels and their being held in that alignment with minimum exposureto being contaminated or dislodged. Thus, by the device and methods ofthis invention watch repairmen are able to do very satisfactory, cleanand efiicient jobs in a minimum of time.

While the invention has been disclosed herein in connection with certainembodiments and certain structural details, it is clear that changes,modifications or equivalents can be used by those skilled in the art;accordingly, such changes within the principles of this invention areintended to be included within the scope the claims below.

I claim:

1. A jewelers tool for placing two jewels differing in size into anuncontained, surface tension sealing relationship and into oilingrelationship with each other which device comprises two sections adaptedto lie separately in the open position and adapted to lie one above theother in the closed position, each section having at least one aperturein it alignable with a co-acting aperture in the other section in theclosed position, said co-acting apertures differing in size, one adaptedto receive the larger of said two jewels and the other aperture adaptedto receive the smaller ol" said two jewels; access in a given aperturewhen said sections are in the said open position to place oil on theuppermost face of said jewel held therein; means to place the saidsections into said closed, aligned position; and for each aperture aboring through the bottom wall of the section in which it is contained,said boring being in conduit relationship with the given aperture andadapted to receive a tamping means and affording access to a part of thebottom face of the jewel held in said given aperture.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in combination with a means topush the said jewels into said sealing and oiling relationship when inthe said aligned position and to push the resultant composite out ofsaid tool when the said sections are again in an open, unalignedposition.

3. A jewelers tool for placing two jewels differing in size into anuncontained, surface tension sealing relationship and into oilingrelationship with each other which device comprises two sections adaptedto lie separately in the open position and adapted to lie one above theother in the closed position, each section having at least one aperturein it alignable with a co-acting aperture in the other section in theclosed position, said co-acting apertures differing in size, one adaptedto receive the larger of said two jewels and having its inside diametercorresponding closely to the diameter of said larger jewel and the otheraperture adapted to receive the smaller of said two jewels and havingits inside diameter corresponding closely to the diameter of saidsmaller jewel; access in a given aperture when said sections are in thesaid open position to place oil on the uppermost face of said jewel heldtherein; a hinge joining and placed between said sections affordingmeans to place said sections into and out of said closed, alignedposition; and for each aperture a boring through the bottom wall of thesection in which it is positioned, said boring being in conduitrelationship with the given aperture and adapted to receive a tampingmeans, and affording access to a part of the bottom face of the jewelheld in said given aperture.

4. A jewelers tool in accordance with claim 3 in combination with atamper having a diameter less than that of any of said borings.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 182,269 9/76Clark l6-128 240,882 5/81 Calef.

673,193 4/01 Callson et al. 3l-5 1 X 789,882 5/05 Robbins 81-6 WILLIAMFELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

1. A JEWELER''S TOOL FOR PLACING TWO JEWELS DIFFERING IN SIZE INTO ANUNCONTAINED, SURFACE TENSION SEALING RELATIONSHIP AND INTO OILINGRELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER WHICH DEVICE COMPRISES TWO SECTIONS ADAPTEDTO LIE SEPARATELY IN THE OPEN POSITION, AND ADAPTED TO LIE ONE ABOVE THEOTHER IN THE CLOSED POSITION, EACH SECTION HAVING AT LEAST ONE APERTUREIN IT ALIGNABLE WITH A CO-ACTING APERTURE IN THE OTHER SECTION IN THECLOSED POSITION, SAID CO-ACTING APERTURES DIFFERING IN SIZE, ONE ADAPTEDTO RECEIVE THE LARGER OF SAID TWO JEWELS AND THE OTHER APERTURE ADAPTEDTO RECEIVE THE SMALLER OF SAID TWO JEWELS; ACCESS IN A GIVEN APERTUREWHEN SAID SECTIONS ARE IN THE SAID OPEN POSITION TO PLACE OILK ON THEUPPERMOST FACE OF SAID JEWEL HELD THEREIN; MEANS TO PLACE THE SAIDSECTIONS INTO SAID CLOSED, ALIGNED POSITION; AND FOR EACH APERTURE ABORING THROUGH THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE SECTION IN WHICH IT IS CONTAINED,SAID BORING BEING IN CONDUIT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GIVEN APERTURE ACCESSTO A PART OF THE BOTTOM FACE OF THE JEWEL HELD IN SAID GIVEN APERTURE.